Reverend Cleavant Derricks (May 13, 1910 in

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

– April 14, 1977) was a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

and choir director at a number of black Baptist churches.

Early life and education

Derricks was born at East Chattanooga, Tennessee, second of five children of stove-factory moulder John T. Derricks and Ora Mae, née Kinamore, who worked as a domestic servant for a family in Chattanooga. He studied at Cadek Conservatory of Music in Chattanooga, A & I State University and American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville.

Career

At age 21, Derricks directed a gospel choir of more than 100 voices in Washington, D.C. at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church. Derricks counted among his friends many well-known artists, one of whom was

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...

. He was the pastor at churches throughout Tennessee at Dayton, Knoxville and Jackson; also in Beloit, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. Along with being a pastor, Derricks was a church builder, choir director, poet, musician, and composer of note, having written more than 300 songs and several song books. Among his more famous songs are the much-recorded and performed " Just a Little Talk with Jesus," "When God Dipped His Love In My Heart," "We'll Soon Be Done With Troubles and Trials," and "When He Blessed My Soul." He was inducted into the

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a hall of fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

in 1984. Derricks had been a warrant officer in the United States Army, having enlisted in 1942. His term of service ended October 1945.

Personal life

On 31 May, 1935, Derricks married Cecile, daughter of Ben F. Gay and Eugenia Gay, in Chattanooga. They lived in Washington, D.C., then Chattanooga, followed by Knoxville, Tennessee, where- having separated from his first wife after a few years- he married secondly Carrie Louise (1919-2005), daughter of Horace and Lovie Glanton. Their twin sons are actors Cleavant Derricks and Clinton Derricks-Carroll; they also had a daughter, Lovie Gwendoline. Derricks died 14 April, 1977 from colon cancer, and was buried at New Gray Cemetery in Knoxville.

References

1910 births 1977 deaths African-American songwriters Gospel music composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century African-American musicians {{US-songwriter-stub